St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-07-07
ranks with the best specimens of ju
dicial dieouisitiOn


Another distinguished jurist of YER
mont, upon his appointment to the
senate, remarked: "The state so far as
her interests depend upon the charac-
ter of her courts and their administra-
ton of the law, has suffered irrepar-
able injury by the transfer of Judge
Poland from the chiefship of her ju-
dietary to a seat in congress-"
In his early career he was some
what active and influential in politics.
He was first a democrat later he be-
lOnged to the free soil wing of that
party, and was their candidate for
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS in IS48. On be-
ing elected to the bench he withdrew
from active participation in politics,
yet in his principles was loyal to the
principles of free soil and free men.
He became identified with the repub-
lican party upon it's formation and has
ever remained devoted to the princi-
Piles in support of which the party was
called into existence. In the discharge
of his duties as senator he displayed
the eminent ability, sound judgment
and fearless advocacy of what he deem
ed right, which had marked his earlier
course and inspired the confidence of
his associates. AS member of the
judiciary committee the bankrupt bill
which had passed the house was in
trusted to his care. The committee
were about equally divided upon the
expediency of the measure. His skill
full management and large personal in
fiuence secured it's passage. But the
measure for which he is entitled to the
greatest credit, having been its origi-
| m and had ito oop,
pletiOn, is the revision of the United
States laws. These laws, enacted,
modified and repealed, session after
session by congress, for nearly one
hundred years, had remained without
subjects it was difficult to ascertain
what the statute law was. The mag
nitude and Importance of this work,
and his connection with it, cannot bet
ter be stated than was done by the
Hon. Loren BlOdgett, in an address
delivered before the Social Science as
ISOLATION, at Philadelphia, in 1875, as
follows:
"Early in the first session of the
Thirty ninth congress-, 1866, Hon.
Luke P. Poland, the senator for Yer
mont, and a member of the judiciary
committee of that body, introduced a
bill for the revision and consolidation
of the statutes of the United States,
which was passed by the senate, April
9, 1866, by the house of representatives
soon after, and became a law June u
following, substantially without amend
ment, in the form originally given it
| by Judge Poland. This sin
gularly clear and comprehensive plan
was adhered to with almost literal
| faithfulness to the d,-the term of
labor required proving much greater
than was expected-but in all other
respects the foresight of Judge Poland
was clearly shown and abundantly vim
Dictated. At this time, as
subsequently, shown, the real work of
verificatiOn of the draft as being truly
the unrepealed statutes of the United
States, general and permanent in their
natures, began at the hands of respOn :
sible parties. The house committee
on revision of the laws, of which Judge
Poland was chairman, took the report
up with the full determination to per-
feet and enact it into law. Having
originated the whole work while a
member of the senate in 1866, and fol-
lowed it as the chief director of all
subsequent proceedings in both houses
of congress for seven years, Judge Po-
land had an interest in concentrating
what all regarded as a great work
which no other member of either
branch could claim. In all the later
work, the energy and determination of
the distinguished chairman, Judge PO-
land, were always conspicuous, and it
must in justice be said that the final
decision as to what was, and what was
not law, was his own and not the COM
missiOners, or any one of them. His
able associates of the committee shared
in responsibility, but none took the
leading part, and the house, to which
he made report at intervals, as enough
of its notification should be completed
for its action. in all cases, sustained
his report.
"The senate, still more indispOsed to
review his work, enacted the revision
in body precisely as it came from the
house, and the whole became law June
%, 1874, without amendment, from the
report of the committee on revision"
With reference to the extreme diff
Guilty of the work, the same eminent
authority adds: "The work of decid-
ing was to a great extent judicial in
it's character, with the additional diff
Guilty of being required to cOnstrue a
statute without a case and without
argument. No test so severe, both as
to familiarity with the ordinary con-
structiOn of these statutes and as to
legal discrimination in regard to the
intrinsic incOmpatibility of acts which
had successfully overlapped each 9TH
er for nearly a century, without codi-
ficatiOn or special report, has at any
time been applied to a body acting
with the necessary haste of commit
tee in congress during an active ses-
sion. Indeed, under no circumstances
and at no time has a like effort been
made.
While engaged in this very difficult
and labOrious task, Judge Poland was
also conducting Investigations of the
most vOluminOus and laboriOus char
acter. He was chairman of the COM
mittee raised to investigate the ku
kluX khan Outrages. The evidence pre-
sented filed thirteen large printed
volumes. The exposure made practi-
cally broke up the organization, and
was of inestimable value to the nation.
He was also chairman of the important
committee appointed to investigate
the transactions of the Credit Mobilier
company. This Investigation occupied
several months, and the unanimous re-
port created much excitement in po-
litical and social circles. 1t was sus-
tanned and in effect relegated several
prominent members of congress, of
Judge POland's party to private life.
During the reconstruction period
Judge Poland was also conspicuous.
He was chairman of a special commit
tee raised to investigate the state of
affairs in Arkansas. He supported the
aE M